My colleague Hélène Mulholland has been looking at five things that were left out of Cameron's speech.

1. The police. With the Andrew Mitchell rant at Downing Street police officers and the alleged “pleb” comment still rather too fresh in everyone's minds and police reforms, budget cuts and pay cuts exercising officers up and down the country, it was maybe not a surprise that Cameron steered clear of mentioning this particular group of public servants. A poster outside the conference centre said: "Say hello to Dave, wave goodbye to your police service."

2. An EU referendum. No mention either of a referendum on Europe so clearly signalled by the prime minister in a round of interviews this week. But Cameron knows it's not just about asking a question via a tailored EU poll, but what question you are actually asking.

3. The Lib Dems: Cameron focused on lauding the Conservative brand, and panning the Labour one, and left the Liberal Democrats out altogether. While Cameron name-checked Labour several times, and Ed Miliband in person, not a peep about coalition partners the Liberal Democrats or its leader Nick Clegg.

4. Gay marriage:David Cameron has previously tried to sell gay marriage as consistent with Tory values ie commitment, but it's not going down well with many grassroots activists who aired their dissent at conference fringes on the issue. So Cameron left it out, and left it to equalities minister Maria Miller to speak up for gay marriage in an earlier speech in the day.

5. The Health Act. Cameron's claim to be “the party of the NHS” was made without a single mention of the Tory-inspired shakeup of the NHS courtesy of recent legislation pushed through by former health secretary Andrew Lansley, who has been shipped out of health to make way for Jeremy Hunt.

It was a competent leader's speech, one that reminded his listeners that David Cameron has more substance to him than the effervescent Boris Johnson, but also a flat speech for pretty flat times. This summer's Olympics and Paralympics are a warm glow in the national consciousness, but winter is drawing in and the economic spring seems as far away as ever.

Mr Cameron's speech will be remembered as a defining moment for his premiership, a point of revelation about his character, and a rallying point for the Conservatives as they turn to face the long haul to a difficult election in 2015.

At long last, he has made sense of his privilege. That for my money was the most telling consequence of his address, more than the dismissal of Ed Miliband's One Nation conceit, or the compelling argument about Britain's chances in the fight to avoid global relegation.

Those who say this was a speech delivered to his party, not his country are, I think, mistaken. This was Cameron’s clearest declaration of principle in years. A pugilistic defence of his ideas and his politics. This, he said, is the kind of Conservative I am and the brand of conservatism in which I believe. Let’s see if you’re strong enough to defeat it.

True, there was the usual talk of hard and difficult choices that were, as usual, left mysteriously unexplained. Nevertheless, there was some heft to this speech too. It was a reminder that Cameron’s political instincts are sharper than his critics – on both left and right – sometimes allow.

I'm not sure this speech will carry to the country and I think what it did is once again secured his position as the most obvious and demonstrably best leader [for the party]. I don't think it was a majority offer to the country yet. The key task for conservatism over the next two and a half years is how it can repeat what Mrs Thatcher did, which is enable a mass aspiration for entrepreneurship and ownership, and he didn't do that but that's the task up to the election.

1.37pm BST

And here's Paul Kenny, the GMB general secretary.

As the economy sinks it is easy for Cameron to talk about swimming for those on decks of luxury yachts buoyed up by the £40,000 a year tax windfall from his Government to the multi-millionaire elite.

The IMF has urged the government to ease up on the austerity. The Tories and Liberals ignored the size of the knock-on effect of public spending cuts on economic growth. Between them they allowed Osborne to tank the economy.

It is doubtful that even Osborne would have cut public spending by as much as he did in 2010 if he had any idea of the damage and misery his budget judgement would cause. George Osborne has as much economic knowledge as a stick of rhubarb.

It is time for Cameron to steer the economy away from the rocks rather than talking about sinking or swimming.

1.35pm BST

And here's Craig Bennett, Friends of the Earth's policy and campaigns director, on the Cameron speech.

It’s good to hear the Prime Minister salute the fact that Britain is number one in the world for offshore wind and tidal power – but this has happened despite the actions of his anti-green chancellor. The Prime Minister must challenge George Osborne’s fossil-fuelled economic strategy and a reckless dash for gas that will send the nation in the wrong direction.

1.31pm BST

And here's Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP deputy first minister of Scotland, on Cameron's speech.

David Cameron’s speech confirms that the anti-independence campaign is led by the Tories – and he entirely failed to talk about what is best for Scotland, revealing the fact that the anti-independence campaign is all about what is best for Westminster.

This appallingly complacent speech – 24 hours after the IMF downgraded its forecast for the UK economy to a contraction of 0.4 per cent – was a party political broadcast of the need for an independent Scotland.

Yet again, David Cameron rejected increasing capital investment to get the economy moving and boost employment – demonstrating the urgent requirement for the Scottish Parliament to gain the job-creating powers of independence, which only a Yes vote in autumn 2014 can and will achieve.

1.28pm BST

And here's Kenneth Clarke, the former justice secretary (and now a minister without portfolio) on the speech.

I was very impressed. It was a serious speech by a man in office dealing with serious problems. It had all the nice personal touches, it had some applause lines, no populist claptrap.

He really got across what we have to achieve to compete in the modern world and he actually made a serious argument for welfare reform, for education reform and why we have to get the deficit under control and not fudge it. It was worth listening to as a speech even allowing for the context of a party conference.

"Populist claptrap"? Do you think that's a reference to his successor, "stab-a-burglar" Chris Grayling?

Updated at 1.32pm BST

1.25pm BST

Here's some more reaction to the speech.

From Labour's Michael Dugher, the shadow Cabinet Office minister

This was a defensive speech, from an out-of-touch, clearly rattled leader, who cannot be the one nation prime minister we need.

David Cameron never once mentioned the double-dip recession or the one million young people out of work. His speech failed to set out the real change our economy needs.

Rather than tackling the banks, or explaining why borrowing is going up not down, he chose to defend his millionaires' tax cut.

He cannot bring Britain together to tackle the problems we face when his priority is to cut taxes for 8,000 millionaires by £40,000 next April, while asking pensioners to pay more.

And during the course of his 6,000-word lecture to the country, he failed to mention the police once. That is a total disgrace at a time when he's taking 15,000 police officers off our streets.

1.21pm BST

My colleague Damian Carrington, the Guardian's head of environment, has sent me this about Cameron's speech.

"We’re number one in the world for offshore wind," said Cameron. But while the turbines are essential for green energy, claiming them as a triumph for UK plc is pretty hollow. About 90% of the near £1.5bn spent constructing the flagship London Array off Kent went to foreign firms, while the Sheringham Shoals farm, off north Norfolk, was officially opened by Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, because state-owned Norwegian firms built and own it. But Laura Sandys, Kent Tory MP and Decc PPS, says that will change: "The extension to London Array will have 50% local content and local business has benefited from thousands of workers." A senior Conservative told me raising the UK's involvement in these schemes was critical, "or the public won't wear paying for them through their energy bills."

1.14pm BST

David Cameron attacked the NUT directly in his speech. And the NUT has hit back. This is from Christine Blower, the NUT general secretary.

The prime minister is wrong: adults do not need time to adjust to the government’s educational reforms, they just don’t want or need them. Secondary Free Schools are being set up in areas where there is actually a crying need for primary places. The academy programme is developing a fragmented and unaccountable education system across England. There is also the latest YouGov poll, which shows that adults and teachers are not convinced by the Government’s proposed reformsfor examinations at 16.

12.53pm BST

Here is some Twitter reaction to the Cameron speech.

From the Independent on Sunday's John Rentoul

John Rentoul (@JohnRentoul)

Proper speech. Shows the advantage of writing stuff down, especially if you want it to include an argument. Cameron #cpc12

Snap Verdict: Cameron opened with the most gloomy start to a leader's speech that I can remember, before he morphed into a more conventional Olympics tribute, and at first that seemed discordant. But as the speech went on I felt it was quite clever the way he linked aspirational, "white van" Conservatism (see 10.11am) with the global threat facing Britain (because aspiration is the solution to our global economic challenge, supposedly) and it was clever the way he linked his personal story with the national challenge (see 12.23pm and 12.25pm.) And he used some perfectly crafted soundbites to address the charge that the Tories are the party of privilege (see 11.54am and 12.22pm.)

So, it was polished and, in the short term, effective. But there was no policy in it (I don't know what happened to the childcare announcement that Iain McMath was expecting – see 11.13) and it doesn't tell us anything fundamentally. Will it pass the "can you still remember much of it after a week" test? I'm sceptical.

Our sentiment tracker: how you rated David Cameron's speech. Photograph: The Guardian

Updated at 12.42pm BST

12.26pm BST

And here's the peroration.

Let us here in this hall, here in this government, together in this country make this pledge – let’s build an aspiration nation......let’s get Britain on the rise.Deficit, paid down. Tough decisions, taken. Growth, fired up. Aspiration, backed all the way.We know what it takes to win ... to win in the tough world of today .... to win for all our people ... to win for Britain. So let’s get out there and do it.

This is the country that ... invented the computer, defeated the Nazis, started the web, saw off the slave trade, unravelled DNA and fought off every invader for a thousand years.We even persuaded the Queen to jump out of a helicopter to make the rest of the world smile .... there is absolutely nothing we cannot do.

12.23pm BST

Cameron is now talking about his father. It's the passage I quoted at 10.34am.

Work hard. Family comes first. But put back in to the community too. There is nothing complicated about me. I believe in working hard, caring for my family and serving my country. And there is nothing complicated about what we need today.This is still the greatest country on earth. We showed that again this summer. 22nd in world population. 3rd in the medals table.But it’s tough. These are difficult times. We’re being tested.

12.22pm BST

Cameron says the left blame under-achievement on disadvantage.

Of course we want to tackle every disadvantage.But isn’t the greatest disadvantage of all being written off by those so in hock to a culture of low expectations that they have forgotten what it’s like to be ambitious, to want to transcend your background, to overcome circumstance and succeed on your own terms?It’s that toxic culture of low expectations – that lack of ambition for every child – which has held this country back.

Cameron says he and Michael Gove are not "waiting for an outbreak of sanity at the headquarters of the NUT".

Instead, there will be "more free schools, more academies, more rigorous exams in every school, more expected of every child".

And to all those people who say: he wants children to have the kind of education he had at his posh school... ...I say: yes – you’re absolutely right. I went to a great school and I want every child to have a great education.

And here's another classy soundbite.

I’m not here to defend privilege, I’m here to spread it.

12.19pm BST

Why can't all schools be as good as the best academies, he asks.

It’s not because parents aren’t ambitious enough – most of these schools are massively over-subscribed.It’s because the old educational establishment – the left-wing local authorities, the leaders of the teachers unions, the Labour party theorists – stood in the way.When we saw a badly failing school in Haringey and wanted to turn it into an Academy, the Labour authority, the Labour MP and the teaching unions said no.

12.18pm BST

Turning to education, Cameron says his approach is simple.

I’ve got two children in primary school, and I want for your children what I want for mine.To go to schools where discipline is strict, expectations are high and no excuses are accepted for failure.I don’t want great schools to just be the preserve of those that can pay the fees, or buy the nice house in the right catchment area......I want those schools to be open to every child – in every neighbourhood.

Cameron says the government has helped to create 2,000 academies, and 79 free schools. These schools have the high expectations of private schools, he says.

That’s my plan – millions of children sent to independent schools... ...independent schools, in the state sector.

12.16pm BST

Cameron turns to the work experience programme.

Here’s what one union official said about it.I quote: “The scheme belongs back in the nineteenth century, along with Oliver Twist and the workhouse. It is nothing short of state sponsored slavery...”Honestly. What an appalling, snobbish attitude to the idea of work.We’re not sending children up chimneys, we’re giving them a chance.What’s cruel isn’t asking something of people – it’s when we ask nothing of them.Work isn’t slavery, it’s poverty that is slavery......and again it’s us, the modern compassionate Conservative party, who are the real champions of fighting poverty in Britain today.

12.15pm BST

Turning to welfare, Cameron says welfare is not working. Some £90bn is being spent on welfare for working-age people.

The government has capped housing benefit and required people on benefit to look for work, he says.

And he turns to the proposal to cut housing benefit for the under-25s floated by George Osborne on Monday.

If hard-working young people have to live at home while they work and save, why should it be any different for those who don’t?Choice one: Work hard. Go to college. Get a job. Live at home. Save up for a flat. And as I’ve just said, that canfeel like forever.Or: Don’t get a job. Sign on. Don’t even need to produce a CV when you do sign on. Get housing benefit. Get a flat.And then don’t ever get a job or you’ll lose a load of housing benefit.

Updated at 12.16pm BST

12.11pm BST

Cameron says the Tories must do more to help people who want to buy a house.

But you know the average age that someone buys their first home today, without any help for their parents? 33 years old. We are the party of home ownership – we cannot let this carry on.

He says he wants more houses to be built.

12.10pm BST

There are more fights to be had, he says. Some of them are with the "yes-but-no" people.

The ones who say “yes, our businesses need to expand......but no we can’t reform planning.”

Cameron says, without planning reform, business will go elsewhere.

I visited a business the other day that wanted to open a big factory just outside Liverpool.But the council was going to take so long to approve the decision that they’re now building that factory on the continent – and taking hundreds of jobs with them.If we’re going to be a winner in this global race we’ve got to beat off this suffocating bureaucracy once and for all.

12.09pm BST

Cameron bingo

Suffocating bureaucracy - I'm going to take that as standing for "red tape".

12.08pm BST

Cameron talks about taking the boss of a mobile-phone banking firm with him on trade mission abroad.

And to those who question whether it’s right to load up a plane with businesspeople – whether we’re flying to Africa, Indonesia, to the Gulf or China......whether we’re taking people from energy, finance, technology or yes – defence ... ...I say – there is a global battle out there to win jobs, orders, contracts... ...and in that battle I believe in leading from the front.

Updated at 12.17pm BST

12.07pm BST

Britiain is getting its entrepreneurial streak back, he says.

Last year the rate of new business creation was faster than any other year in our history.Let me repeat that. The rate at which new businesses started – faster than any year on record. We’re making things again. We had a trade surplus in cars last year for the first time in almost 40 years.

He is now in full "sales director of UK plc" mode.

When I became Prime Minister I said to the Foreign Office: those embassies you’ve got... ...turn them into showrooms for our cars, department stores for our fashion, technology hubs for British start-ups. Yes, you’re diplomats but you need to be our country’s salesforce too.

12.05pm BST

Cameron says that under this government "the rich will pay a greater share of tax in every year of this Parliament than in any one of the thirteen years under Labour".

12.04pm BST

And he turns to Ed Miliband.

Did you hear what Ed Miliband said last week about taxes?He described a tax cut as the government writing people a cheque.Ed... Let me explain to you how it works.When people earn money, it’s their money.Not the government’s money: their money.Then, the government takes some of it away in tax.So, if we cut taxes, we’re not giving them money - we’re taking less of it away. OK?

Cameron says Labour thinks more government spending would boost the economy. That sounds reasonable, but it's not, he says.

Let me tell you why it’s not.Right now, while we’ve got a deficit, the people we’re borrowing money from believe that we’ll pay it back - because we’ve set out a tough plan to cut spending and live within our means.That’s why our interest rates are among the lowest in the world, even though the deficit left to us by Labour was one of the highest in the world.If we did what Labour want, and watered down our plans, the risk is that the people we borrow money from would start to question our ability and resolve to pay off our debts.Some may actually refuse to lend us that money.Others would only lend it to us at higher interest rates.

12.01pm BST

Cameron says people want to know if the economic plan is working.

Here’s the truth: the damage was worse than we thought, and it’s taking longer than we hoped. The world economy – especially in the Eurozone – has been much weaker than expected in the past two years. When some of our big trading partners like Ireland, Spain and Italy are suffering, they buy less from us. That hurts our growth and makes it harder to pay off our debts.

He goes on:

But here is the crucial thing you need to know. Yes it’s worse than we thought, yes it’s taking longer, but we are making progress. Thanks to the grit and resolve of George Osborne, we have cut a quarter off the deficit in the past two years. 25 per cent. That’s helped to keep interest rates at record low levels... ...keeping mortgages low.

11.59am BST

Cameron bingo

Cameron says the government needs to create an economy with good jobs.

Businesses need to take people on, he says.

There are some basic things they need to do that.Low interest rates so they can afford to take out a loan.And confidence that it’s worth investing - because the customers will be there, whether at home or abroad.Getting the deficit down is essential for both.That’s why our deficit reduction plan is not an alternative to a growth plan: it’s the very foundation of our growth plan.

11.56am BST

Cameron turns to cuts.

We say we’ve got to get the private sector bigger and the public sector smaller...our opponents call it ‘Tory cuts, slashing the state’.No: it’s the best way to create the sustainable jobs people need.

11.55am BST

Cameron says that he has always been determined to change the party's image.

This party has a heart but we don’t like wearing it on our sleeve. Conservatives think: let’s just get on with the job and help people and not bang on about it. It’s not our style. But there’s a problem with that. It leaves a space for others to twist our ideas and distort who we are: the cartoon Conservatives who don’t care. My mission from the day I became leader was to change that. Yes, to show the Conservative party is for everyone: North or south, black or white, straight or gay.But above all - to show that Conservative methods are not just the way we grow a strong economy, but the way we build a big society.

Updated at 11.57am BST

11.54am BST

Cameron says aspiration has always been at the heart of the Conservative party.

We’ve been led by the daughter of a grocer, the son of a music hall performer......by a Jew when Jews were marginalised, by a woman when women were sidelined.We don’t look at the label on the tin; we look at what’s in it.

He contrasts this with Labour's approach.

Let me put that another way.We don’t preach about one nation but practise class war......we just get behind people who want to get on in life.The doers. The risk takers. The young people who dream of their first pay-cheque, their first car, their first home – and are ready and willing to work hard to get those things.While the intellectuals of other parties sneer at people who want to get on in life, we here salute you.

And he comes out with the best sound-bite of the speech so far.

They call us the party of the better-off......no: we are the party of the want to be better

Cameron bingo

Aspiration is the engine of progress. Countries rise when they allow their people to rise.

And this is not just an economic goal, he says.

And for us Conservatives, this is not just an economic mission – it’s also a moral one.It’s not just about growth and GDP......it’s what’s always made our hearts beat faster – aspiration; people rising from the bottom to the top.Line one, rule one of being a Conservative is that it’s not where you’ve come from that counts, it’s where you’re going.

11.51am BST

Cameron bingo

Growth. It's not just about growth and GDP, Cameron says, it's about aspiration.

11.50am BST

Cameron returns to the global economic threats facing the UK.

All around the world, countries are on the rise. Yes, we’ve been hearing about China and India for years... ...but it’s hard to believe what’s happening in Brazil, in Indonesia, in Nigeria too.Meanwhile, the old powers are on the slide. What do the countries on the rise have in common?They are lean, fit, obsessed with enterprise, spending money on the future – on education, incredible infrastructure and technology.And what do the countries on the slide have in common?They’re fat, sclerotic, over-regulated, spending money on unaffordable welfare systems, huge pension bills, unreformed public services.I sit in those European Council meetings where we talk endlessly about Greece......while on the other side of the world, China is moving so fast it’s creating a new economy the size of Greece every three months.I am not going to stand here as Prime Minister and allow this country to join the slide.My job – our job - is to make sure that in this twenty first century, as in the centuries that came before, our country, Britain, is on the rise.

Updated at 11.51am BST

11.49am BST

Cameron says the government has delivered public sector reform and imposed the welfare cap.

And it has tackled Abu Hamza.

For years people asked why we couldn’t get rid of those radical preachers who spout hatred about Britain while living off the taxpayer......well, Theresa May – a great Home Secretary - has done it – and she’s got Abu Hamza on that plane and out of our country to face justice.

11.48am BST

Cameron reminds the audience that he vetoed an EU treaty. No other British leader has done that, he says.

11.48am BST

Cameron turns to the government's decision to increase aid spending.

I know some are sceptical about our aid budget. But picture the scene – you’re in a health centre in Kinshasa.See the child with a needle in her arm, being injected with a Yellow Fever vaccine......the difference between living and dying......how can anyone tell me that’s a waste of money.

Since Sunday, British aid money has vaccinated 130,000 children around the world, he says.

11.46am BST

Cameron says the government has delivered some "big, life-changing things".

For example, it has created a cancer drugs fund.

There was a reason we could do that.It’s because we made a big decision to protect the NHS from spending cuts. No other party made that commitment. Not Labour. Not the Liberal Democrats.

He goes on to defend the Tory record on the NHS.

To all those people who said we’d bring the NHS down......I say......well, yes, you’ve got a point.I’ll tell you what is down.Waiting lists – down. Mixed wards – down. The number of managers – down. Bureaucratic targets – down. Hospital infections – down.And what’s up? The number of doctors, the number of dentists, the number of midwives, the number of operations carried out in our NHS.So be in no doubt: this is the party of the NHS and that’s the way it’s going to stay.

There's no mention of Andrew Lansley, though, or the Health Act.

11.46am BST

Cameron bingo

Our armed forces have been on the ground in Afghanistan for over ten years now.433 men and women have made the ultimate sacrifice.Just last weekend there was a memorial service for one of the fallen, and the eulogy said this:“All that they had they gave. All that they might have had. All that they had ever been. All that they might ever have become.”For all those who serve, and their families, I repeat the commitment I made when this Government came to office. By the end of 2014, all UK combat operations in Afghanistan will have come to an end.

Cameron invites the audience to stand to applaud them. They do, giving a prolonged round of applause.

11.43am BST

Cameron pays tribute to "the zinger on the zip-wire", Boris Johnson.

And he thanks the Olympics games makers.

You know, I’ve spent three years trying to explain the Big Society......they did it beautifully in just three weeks.

11.42am BST

Cameron says he is going to see Alex Salmond soon. But he won't let him break up the United Kingdom.

There are many things I want this coalition to achieve but what could matter more than saving our United Kingdom.

He says the Tories will fight the referendum on Scottish independence "with everything we've got"

Updated at 11.43am BST

11.40am BST

Cameron bingo

Together. Scotland and the rest of the UK are better together, Cameron says.

11.39am BST

Cameron says his priority is to ensure that Britain is on the rise.

I have confidence in our country. Why? Because Britain can deliver. We can do big things. We saw it this summer.The Jubilee, the Olympics, the Paralympics... ...the best country in the world......and let’s say it: with our Queen, the finest Head of State on earth.

11.38am BST

Cameron is now talking about hard truths.

All of my adult life, whatever the difficulties, the British people have at least been confident about one thing. We have thought we can pay our way. That we can earn our living as a major industrial country and we will always remain one. It has fallen to us to say - we cannot assume that any longer.

Unless we act, unless we take difficult, painful decisions, unless we show determination and imagination, Britain may not be in the future what it has been in the past.Because the truth is this.We are in a global race today.And that means an hour of reckoning for countries like ours.Sink or swim. Do or decline.To take office at such a moment is a duty and an honour......and we will rise to the challenge.

Leaders normally start a speech like this with a few jokes. But this is very bleak.

11.37am BST

Cameron bingo

Plan. Every battle we fight, every plan we make, every decision we take … Cameron takes inspiration from the Police.

11.36am BST

David Cameron's speech

David Cameron is on stage now. (Purple tie, for those of you interested in these things.)

He says the Tories came to power "at a grave moment in the modern history of Britain".

At a time when people felt uncertainty, even fear. Here was the challenge: To make an insolvent nation solvent again. To set our country back on the path to prosperity that all can share in. To bring home our troops from danger while keeping our citizens safe from terror. To mend a broken society.

Now Britain is on the right track, he says.

Updated at 11.37am BST

11.34am BST

It's a "greatest hits" video, although with a strong emphasis on Cameron's role drumming up international trade for the UK.

Cameron easily beats Ed Miliband on the "being prime ministerial" question in leadership polling. Largely that's because he is prime minister. This video seems to be designed to underline that.

Cameron bingo

He knows Cameron well, Hague says. He is not someone who says one thing in public and another in private. And he is someone who will not take no for an answer.

As foreign secretary, Hague says he knows how much Cameron has done to support British diplomacy.

Cameron is "respected for his strength and decisiveness all over the world".

He says they will now show a video about how Cameron gives a lead.

11.30am BST

Reaction tracker

Refresh the page as soon as David Cameron takes the stage to see our reaction tracker, which will run at the top of the blog during the prime minister's speech. You can respond positively or negatively to what he is saying by clicking the plus or minus buttons throughout the address and the chart will track your responses.

11.29am BST

Another missive from the hall. This is from the Sunday Times's Isabel Oakeshott.

Isabel Oakeshott (@IsabelOakeshott)

Ladies in pearls next to me were NOT clapping at mayor bloomberg's tributes to the PM.interesting..

Bloomberg says he has close links to Britain. His two daughters have British passports, and his firm is bulding a new headquarters in London, he says.

11.15am BST

Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, is on the stage now. He calls Coe "Sebastian". And he thanks the Tories for letting "a yank" crash the party. He was thinking of arriving by jumping out of a helicopter with Boris Johnson, he says. But the last time Johnson was suspended in the air it did not work out, he says.

11.13am BST

I don't know what Cameron is going to announce in his speech yet, but one PR company seems to know. I've just had this email.

Iain McMath md of Sodexo Motivation Solutions – the leading provider of childcare vouchers – is available for any reactive comments or interviews following David Cameron’s planned policy announcements on how to make childcare more affordable for working parents in his key note speech today.

11.12am BST

Coe says he is often asked how Britain delivered the games.

It was about having a vision, he says.

And it was also about bringing out the best in Britain.

Britain has a reputation for quality, for scrutiny, for raising the bar and for setting new benchmarks.

And "heroic strength" was important too. Events like the games are unremitting. But it was not hard to find inspiration when so many people were involved.

As Abraham Lincoln said, without public sentiment nothing can succeed. Without it, nothing can fail.

Coe says "the nourishing and sustainable role of laughter" was also important. Britain is famous for its laughter, he says. The games makers made the games fun. Their humour changed the way people around the world see Britain.

The act of one person, or a small group of people, can be transformational when harnessed to a national cause.

Coe says he intends to build on this as he takes the legacy of the games forward.

Updated at 11.18am BST

11.08am BST

Coe is talking about the community groups inspired by the Olympics games.

We don't just have a can-do culture in Britain, he says. We have a can-deliver culture.

Miller says the Paralympics have made people think differently about disability.

She says she believes in marriage.

The state should not stop people being married unless there is a good reason. "And I don't believe being gay is one of them," she says.

That gets a loud round of applause.

10.40am BST

Miller says the games makers spirit will inspire more people to be volunteers.

And the Olympics athletes will donate 5,000 volunteer days a year to helping train a new generation of athletes, she says.

Updated at 11.20am BST

10.38am BST

The conference proceedings have started. Maria Miller, the culture secretary, is speaking now. She says the Olympics showed a country confident with its unique cultural heritage.

Updated at 10.53am BST

10.36am BST

And here is David Cameron talking about the Paralympics.

My best moment was putting that gold medal around the neck of Ellie Simmonds. And I am so grateful for what all those Paralympians did. When I used to push my son Ivan around in his wheelchair, I always thought that some people saw the wheelchair, not the boy. Today more people would see the boy and not the wheelchair - and that's because of what happened here this summer.

10.34am BST

Here's another slug of the David Cameron speech that has been released in advance. It's about his credo: "Work hard. Family comes first. But put back in the community too."

It's only when your dad's gone that you realise - not just how much you really miss them - but how much you really owe them. My dad influenced me much more than I ever thought. He was born with no heels on his feet and legs about a foot shorter than they're meant to be. But he never complained - even when he lost both those legs later in life. Because disability in the 1930s was such a stigma, he was an only child. Probably a lonely child. But Dad was the eternal optimist. To him the glass was always half full. Usually with something alcoholic in it. When I was a boy I remember once going on a long walk with him in the village where we lived, passing the church he supported and the village hall where he took part in interminable parish council meetings. I asked him what he was most proud of. It was simple - working hard from the moment he left school and providing a good start in life for his family. Not just all of us, but helping his mum too, when his father ran off. Not a hard luck story, but a hard work story.

Work hard. Family comes first. But put back in the community too. There is nothing complicated about me. I believe in working hard, caring for my family and serving my country. And there is nothing complicated about what we need today. This is still the greatest country on earth. We showed that again this summer. 22nd in world population. 3rd in the medals table. But it's tough. These are difficult times. We're being tested. How will we come through it? Again, it's not complicated. Hard work. Strong families. Taking responsibility. Serving others.

Most politicians are ambitious and ruthless, but Boris is a gold medal egomaniac.

I would not trust him with my wife nor — from painful experience — with my wallet. It is unnecessary to take any moral view about his almost crazed infidelities, but it is hard to believe that any man so conspicuously incapable of controlling his own libido is fit to be trusted with controlling the country.

His chaotic public persona is not an act — he is, indeed, manically disorganised about everything except his own image management. He is also a far more ruthless, and frankly nastier, figure than the public appreciates.

When one of his many sexual affairs was exposed and much trumpeted in the headlines, he phoned a friend of mine who was then running one of Britain’s largest media organisations. ‘It’s utterly disgraceful what your reporters are doing on-screen about my private life’, spluttered Boris. ‘It’s time you realised that I know all about your private life. If your organisation goes on reporting my affairs like this, you’ll be reading all about yours in The Spectator’ — the magazine which he then edited.

My friend responded: ‘Stop a minute, Boris, and think about what you just said. There is a word for it, and it is not a pretty one — “blackmail’’.’

Johnson waffled away, muttering that he had never really meant it. But he is much given to making threats, bearing grudges and behaving with malice aforethought.

10.23am BST

Cameron bingo

For the last time, Paul Owen will be moonlighting as a bingo caller this morning, throughout David Cameron's speech.

10 things we've learnt from the Conservative party conference

I hate to think that I've spent three days in the conference bunker, starved of natural light, to no purpose. We've had the announcements, of course, but what else have we learnt from the Conservative conference? Here are my 10 things.

1. "White van" Conservatism is now the dominant ideology in the party. The phrase comes from Robert Halfon, the Harlow MP, but other Tories talk about blue collar Conservatism or helping the "strivers", and Eric Pickles puts it in terms of Essex values. Alternatively, you could just call it Tabloid Toryism, or just Thatcherism. It's the thread that binds together all the main announcements at the conference, such as curbs on benefit claimants, the "stab-a-burglar" law, tougher punishments for offenders and the council-tax freeze. Individually, these policies may be quite popular, but collectively they depict a grim picture of Britain, which is why the "nasty party" label has been heard again in Birmingham. There was almost nothing at the conference about quality of life issues and David Cameron's "let sunshine rule the day" is now just a distant memory.

2. The Conservatives are not worried about "one nation" Labour. They believe that it is an empty marketing slogan and it is clear that they are going to fight Labour in 2015 exactly as they did in 2010 – by attacking the party as financial irresponsible. The Conservatives have spent all week trying to assert their own one nation credentials although, as George Osborne made clear in his speech, there's a difference between their one nation and Labour's. Theirs is for strivers; benefit claimants who lie in bed with the "blinds down" instead of going to work aren't included.

3. The "big society" is over. It was Cameron's big idea at the 2010 election, but even then it was a hard sell electorally and prolonged austerity seems to have finished it off. We're told that Cameron is going to reaffirm his commitment to the idea in his speech later. But, without having read the speech, it is hard to see how this will amount to much more than a concession to nostalgia. No one else has been talking about the big society at the conference and, as an ideological frame for policy, it seems to have collapsed.

4. The Conservatives are more worried than Labour about the threat to Britain's long-term economic future posed by globalisation. William Hague made this point on the Today programme this morning (see 9.39am), but that doesn't mean it's not true. At Labour's conference very little was said about the impact of competition from China, but figures like Hague and Osborne have been issuing dire warnings about European countries being condemned to poverty if they fail to keep up with the Asian economic superpowers and Cameron is going to say the same thing in his speech later. This case is set out in detail in Britannia Unchained, a new book by five 2010-intake Tory MPs. It's a key text in the party at the moment although, as my colleague Paul Owen found when he attended a Britannia Unchained fringe, some of its conclusions are unpalatable.

5. Boris Johnson is the most potent force in Conservative politics (maybe even British politics) but he has postponed a challenge to David Cameron. Johnson's reception at Birmingham was extraordinary – even Bill Clinton at Labour in 2002 failed to generate so much excitement – and, through some unholy alchemy involving ego, wit, optimism and good cheer, he has become a figure who transcends party politics. He said nothing incompatible with white van Conservatism, but his speech was the most uplifting we've heard all week because it was relentlessly positive. Johnson was loyal to Cameron, and he insisted that he would not try to get elected to parliament before 2016, although, with glorious chutzpah, he actually included a joke in his conference speech about how he sometimes breaks his promises. Cameron should be worried. But Labour should worry about Johnson too.

6. Cameron has averted a rebellion over Europe. Europe was tipped as a conference flashpoint, but, although the subject kept coming up in fringe meetings, there were no public rows. Cameron has come closer to announcing a referendum on the EU, and, broadly, his party seems happy with this.

7. Council-tax increases have become politically unpalatable – which suggests the system is bust. In one of the most expensive announcements of the week (although one which received relatively little media attention), the Tories announced that they will fund a council-tax freeze for another year. In Scotland the SNP also refuses to sanction council-tax increases. Taxpayers benefit in the short term, but councillors find central interference of this kind infuriating and it means that the existing local-government funding model is becoming unworkable.

8. Internal Conservative party modernisation has stalled. The Labour MP Phil Wilson once said Labour won an election on 1 May 1997 and stopped reforming the party on 2 May 1997. The same thing has happened to the Conservative party since 2010. What has happened to the A-list? Or to open primaries? There have also been complaints about the efficiency of the party machine and having a party chairman who has spent the week avoiding jibes about Michael Green hasn't helped either.

9. Andrew Mitchell will find it hard to hang on as chief whip. If he thought that by avoiding the conference, the controversy about his anti-police rant would just blow over, he was wrong. When he appeared on a video shown at the Johnson rally on Monday night, members cheered ironically, as if he were an object of derision. For reasons that Graeme Archer explains quite well on his Telegraph blog, the conference has illustrated just how much damage Mitchell has done to the party and there are now strong suggestions that he will soon resign.

10. The Conservatives are not optimistic about their prospects in the police commissioner elections. Next month most voters in England and Wales will get the chance to take part in what is virtually a nationwide poll. You would expect the party to be on full election alert. But, generally, the Tories have not been showcasing their candidates and the elections only received a modest slot in the conference programme. That suggests expectations are low. The Tories have also written off Corby, which is why Louise Mensch was loudly booed when she appeared in a video at the Johnson rally.

Updated at 11.15am BST

9.39am BST

William Hague was on the Today programme this morning. He said that the Conservative party was the only party to accept that the world has changed as a result of globalisation.

[The conference] has the clear recognition that the world has changed. That's the difference from the Labour conference last week. The world has changed, it's tougher, it's not going to change back to how it was 10 years ago. We have to reform education, welfare, have a tax system that attracts businesses to this country and we are doing those things. They wouldn't be done by our opponents, that's the heart of the prime minister's message.

9.23am BST

There seems to be a problem with the comments at the moment. They should be open, but the comment box is not always showing. A colleague is on the case.

9.12am BST

Sometimes the main political parties can hold their party conferences without really engaging in what their opponents are saying but this year is different. With his one nation Labour speech, Ed Miliband sought to snatch the Conservative party's USP. Today, in his speech closing the conference, David Cameron will try to grab it back. We're going to see the two main parties locking horns.

My mission from the day I became leader was, yes, to show the Conservative party is for everyone: North or South, black or white, straight or gay. But above all- to show that Conservative methods are not just the way we grow a strong economy, but the way we build a big society. That Conservative methods are not just good for the strong and the successful but the best way to help the poor, and the weak, and the vulnerable. Because it's not enough to know our ideas are right. We've got to explain why they are compassionate too.

Other papers, like the Daily Telegraph, have focused on the fact that Cameron will deliver a stark "sink or swim" message to the nation.

Unless we act, unless we take difficult, painful decisions, unless we show determination and imagination, Britain may not be in the future what it has been in the past. Because the truth is this. We're in a global race today. And that means an hour of reckoning for countries like ours. Sink or swim. Do or decline.

The speech is the only big event of the day and, as usual, I'll be covering it in detail, as well as bringing you the reaction.

Here's the timetable for the final two hours of the conference.

10.30am: Celebrating the United Kingdom, with speeches from Maria Miller, the culture secretary, Lord Coe, the Locog chairman, and Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York.

11.15am: David Cameron speaks.

Before the conference opens, I'll also put up a post with my 10 things we've learned from the Conservative conference.